All Posts by Phil Nickinson

Our Android apps just got a whole lot better — and we're not done yet!
We've reached a pretty major milestone in the life of the Android Central app — you can now search for stories. And for forum threads. And for individual posts. Basically you can search for all the things.

Is it really possible for your data to leak out the holes on the bottom of the Galaxy S7 if they don't line up just right? How does the King of all CrackBerrys feel about the next big thing? Will a die-hard Moto fangirl be wooed?
The answers to these questions — and more — as we poll some of your favorite Mobile Nations editors on the new Galaxy S7, and where it stands in the greater...

There's that line in "The Force Awakens" where Han Solo gives the tl;dr of everything you missed so far. "It's true. All of it." Great line. I've seen the movie twice and the trailers a bunch of times, and somehow something always managed to get in my eye the when he said it. Weird.

This is a big one, folks. Google has dropped the Android N Developer Preview on us a good month and a half ahead of the Google I/O developer conference. Some important things to know:
What's new in Android N ... so far
Android N's under-the-hood changes might point to a new future for OS updates
Huge changes in the settings menu
A major revamp for the notification shade
And so much more. You can...

Never mind that pre-orders have been shipping for a week. Today is Galaxy S7 day.
Samsung's retail partners all over the world are opening their doors to anyone wanting to wander in and pick up a new Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge. You've seen our reviews on the smaller and edgier versions this year — as well as a look at what you can expect in Canada — but today is the day to put down money on...

Update 2: And it's available now. Huzzah.
Update: Verizon exec Jeffrey Nelson tweeted that Samsung Pay is still in testing but will be available on March 11, the official launch date of the Galaxy S7.
.@SamsungSupport confirms Samsung Pay isundergoing testing & will be avail on schedule for our 3/11 launch ofGalaxy S7 & Galaxy S7 edge— Jeffrey Nelson (@JNels) March 9, 2016
There's...

So you want to run the Android N Developer Preview? Cool. Here's how.
Google is making it easier than ever for anyone with a (relatively) current-generation Nexus device have a test of the Android N Developer Preview, as part of the new Android Beta Program. The short version is that you'll no longer have to manually flash a factory image to use the beta software. You can enroll a Nexus device...

So we've go the Android N Developer Preview. We've new factory images for a handful of devices. We've got a bunch of new little features to play with.
One thing we don't yet have, however, is the Android N easter egg.

Google's Pixel C tablet wasn't exactly the second coming of Android computing we'd all been hoping for. But it just got a little better — first with the release of the N Developer Preview, and now with Google offering developers 25 percent off its latest tablet.
Technically you're supposed to be a developer to take advantage of this one — and Google says it's one redemption per person, and it...

Three methods of shortcuts make it easy to take a screenshot on the Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge
The Galaxy S7 (and the Galaxy S7 edge) is now official. It's time to get down to the really important stuff — like how to take a screenshot on the Galaxy S7. If you're a Samsung Galaxy veteran you very much know what's coming next. Been there, done that, got the screenshot.
If you're new to Samsung...

Death, taxes and unboxings. Three things in life that are as certain. On that there can be little discussion. If something is in a box, it must someday be let out of the box.
This is the Verizon model of the Samsung Galaxy S7. Or, rather, it will be once we take it out of the box. And inside this GS7 box you'll find a couple surprises. And plenty of Verizon bloatware. But also a couple good...

This is the best Samsung Galaxy phone to date — except for that other one that's lurking out there.
The quick take
The Galaxy S7 is one of the two best phones we've seen in seven iterations of the Galaxy S series. The other is this phone's cousin, the Galaxy S7 edge. It's the best design Samsung has brought to bear, big without being bulky, with a mix of specs and usability you'd expect in a...

Take a look at that picture. That represents the bulk of what makes up Mobile Nations. The pieces — the people — who bring you Android Central. CrackBerry. iMore. Windows Central. It's the folks you know — and a lot of whom work tirelessly behind the scenes, without the recognition they deserve.

With Mobile World Congress firmly behind us, we turn to a couple guys who looked at things from an outside perspective — Jerry and Russell — to see what they thought of the show, the Galaxy S7, LG G5 and more, from back home.

How hot is the HTC Vive? According to HTC's Shen Ye (yes, the brains behind our Futurology series) tweeted Monday that more than 15,000 units of the virtual reality system were sold in less than 10 minutes on Day 1 of preorders. That's in the neighborhood of 25 Vives sold every second.
And if you've gotten to go through a Vive Demo — it blew Russell's mind, and Phil's, too — you understand the...

Two stellar phones, with overlapping specs. No wonder folks are getting so excited.
Without a doubt one of the more ... discussed ... announcements at Mobile World Congress this year was the LG G5. If you're only looking at the specs, on paper, it might seem like a slight step backward in a mobile world that's always going bigger and faster. But get the G5 into your hands, and things...

A day before $799 preorders go on sale U.S., HTC has announced international pricing information for the consumer version of its Vive virtual reality kit. Depending on the country, price stays close to what we'll be paying here in the States, or it goes up by a couple hundred dollars or so. And that's, of course, not counting the high-end PC you'll need to run Vive in the first place.
Nations...

Woe to the blogger who complains even a little bit about having to work in Barcelona for a week. But that's not to say Mobile World Congress isn't work, and that's not to say some years aren't better than others. And this year may well have been our best.

Rational arguments — not cheerleading — is what's going to protect the integrity of our pocket-sized computers.
It's still not just about Apple. And it's still not just about the iPhone. And it's infinitely more important than hashtags and T-shirts. Apple's opposition to the FBI's demand that it create an alternative operating system that would aid in the unlocking of a smartphone connected to...